Conductor Richard Kaufman and the Pacific Symphony gave the North American premiere of “Singin’ in the Rain” in concert on Thursday night in Segerstrom Concert Hall. The musical soundtrack, through a painstaking digital process, had been removed from the film, leaving in the dialogue, sound effects and singing. The instrumental parts were reconstructed (since they were lost). The orchestra performed the music live, in sync with a screening of the film. It was hard not to have a good time, even if you tried.

There were some not inconsiderable kinks to be worked out in the performance, though. What should have been a sort of audiophile’s dream account of the musical sounded less good a great deal of the time than a screening of the picture on a decent home theater system would. The problem was twofold: The sound that remains embedded in the film and the sound system in Segerstrom Concert Hall.

First, the sound in the film. On Thursday it was harsh, trebly and tinny, ornamented with an overlying hiss. Jean Hagen’s (Lina Lamont’s) comically nasal delivery fried a listener’s ears. The singing voices lost a certain amount of bloom. Diction was sketchy (subtitles might have been nice in spots).

Second, the sound system. It seemed as if (I don’t know for sure) there was a bad speaker cable or connection somewhere. An extra dose of distortion, at any rate, was added to the voices, a crackling sound at louder volumes. It got a little better, I think, during the second half, but never quite went away.

The acoustical curtains (sound-deadening) were deployed throughout the hall and the orchestra was amplified. This worked fine for the most part, though the harsh sound in the film hurt that of the orchestra, which was pumped through the same speakers. I might have turned the knobs differently than the resident sound man did, opting for a warmer orchestral hue, but that’s a matter of taste.

Gene Kelly’s widow (Patricia Ward Kelly) was on hand, and told us how, in 1969, MGM destroyed the sheet music to “Singin’ in the Rain” and buried it in a land fill which is now under the 405 freeway. John Wilson reconstructed the instrumental parts by listening to the film, and they sound authentic and terrific.

The performance of full-length feature films with live musical accompaniment is catching on in the world of symphony orchestras. (John Goberman’s PGM Productions, which prepared this “Singin’ in the Rain,” is working on “Vertigo” now, to be given its premiere by the San Francisco Symphony next season.) As an aficionado of old movies, I think the trend holds promise. The mind teems with possibilities, though obviously an orchestra must have enough to do. “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (with Errol Flynn, music by Korngold)? “The Big Sleep” (with Bogart and Bacall, music by Steiner)? “The Hudsucker Proxy” (Coen Brothers, music by Khachaturian)? “North by Northwest” and “Mysterious Island” (both with magnificent scores by Bernard Herrmann)?

Kaufman, using a large clock with a second hand as well as a click track, kept the Pacific Symphony perfectly in sync with the film. The orchestra had a high time with it, readily capturing the snazzy studio orchestra style. The best parts, really, were the tap dancing sequences (no singing) and the lengthy Broadway Melody sequence, which, simply put, was thrilling, the orchestra hitting it out of the park. In the ballet therein, when the sets turn to Dali, the music turns into pure Ravel, and here you heard that vividly. Ah, Cyd Charisse, she looks well on the big screen.

As a critic I am sworn to report my quibbles with this “Singin’ in the Rain” and I hope the performers will consider them as friendly suggestions and try to do something about them. On the other hand, if I were you, I wouldn’t hesitate to go, if you can get a ticket.

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